Rady family healing and helping others with CU Cancer Center

Katy Rady
lost her brother, Paul, to cancer nearly four years ago. Katy and her husband,
also named Paul, turned their grief into a mission to prevent other families
from having to go through the same pain. That mission led to the Paul R. O’Hara
II Esophagogastric Cancer Symposium.

The second
annual symposium was held April 20 and was attended by dozens of cancer
patients, caregivers, and others who, like the Radys, hope to improve
treatments and accelerate the pace of cancer research. The gathering was a
chance to learn about the latest treatments for esophagogastric cancer,
nutrition for patients, and supportive services available at the University of
Colorado Cancer Center.

In addition
to the annual symposium, the Radys established the Paul
R. O’Hara II Endowed Chair in Esophageal Cancer at the CU Cancer
Center, which was awarded to Madeline Kane, MD, O’Hara’s physician and a CU
Cancer Center member. The purpose of the chair is to fund research that could
help answer questions about esophageal cancer – what drives it and which
treatments will be most effective and least toxic.

“Preventing
other families from experiencing the pain we felt after Paul’s death is our
motivation,” says Rady. “As hard as it has been, we now also feel hopeful
knowing the CU Cancer Center is trying to unlock the mysteries of esophageal
cancer.”

Seed grants
already awarded include one project on how inflammation contributes to esophageal
cancer and another on the role the immune system plays in treating esophageal
cancer. The awardees in 2019 are Todd Pitts, PhD, and Jeff Olsen, MD.

Pitts, an
assistant professor of research in the CU School of Medicine’s Division of Medical
Oncology, will create cell cultures to study the genetics of gastroesophageal
reflux disease (GERD), Barrett’s esophagus (which is a complication of GERD),
and esophageal cancer. Understanding the genetic features of the stem cells
could help develop more effective treatments.

Olsen, an
assistant professor in the Division of Radiation Oncology, is investigating
whether patients with esophageal cancer may have better outcomes when they
receive chemoradiotherapy in combination with a treatment regimen known as
FLOT, which includes the drugs fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and Taxotere.

Richard
Schulick, MD, MBA, director of the CU Cancer Center and the chair of CU School
of Medicine’s Department of Surgery, spoke to attendees about his vision for
cancer research and clinical care in Colorado and beyond.

“Along with
our clinical partners at UCHealth, we have significantly reduced the time it
takes to begin treatment for esophagogastic cancer,” said Schulick. “The key is
our multi-disciplinary clinics which bring our specialists together to
brainstorm about each patient so they can start treatment in two weeks instead
of five.”

Schulick
says families like the Radys are counting on physicians and scientists to cure
cancer or, at the very least, find better, less toxic treatments.

“My father
had colon cancer and passed away when I was a teenager. My mother was a breast
cancer survivor,” says Schulick. “As a son, I know the pain of losing someone
to cancer. As a surgeon, I also know the satisfaction of helping a patient live
longer with better quality of life.”

With the
help of committed families like the Radys, there is greater opportunity to
define the future of cancer science.

“We look
forward to innovations in research and clinical breakthroughs for our patients,”
said Schulick. “We are very thankful to the Radys for partnering with us in
bringing those breakthroughs to cancer patients around the world.”